Iga Swiatek (Twitter)
Top seed Iga Swiatek squares off against Jule Niemeier in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open on Monday.
The world No. 1 has started the new season on a high note. She was quite dominant during her United Cup campaign.
Swiatek began with a dominant win against world No. 51 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. The Polish sensation went on to defeat Belina Bencic and Martina Trevisan in her next two singles matches. Swiatek lost to world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in a surprisingly one-sided affair in a semi-final clash between Poland and the USA. Last year at the Australian Open, Swiatek lost to Danielle Collins in the semifinals. Swiatek will be eyeing her second major title win in a row and fourth overall.
The German star played in the United Cup. However, her campaign fell off as she lost two singles matches that she played and Germany failed to progress beyond the group stage.
Niemeier went on to play in the Adelaide International 2. She lost to Karolina Pliskova in the first qualifying match she played. The 23-year-old has an uphill task as she begins her Australian Open campaign against arguably the best player on the WTA circuit at the moment. In 2022, Niemeier failed to advance to the main draw. She lost the first qualifying match she played against Arianne Hartono.
Iga Swiatek has a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head scoreline. Jule Niemeier was one of the opponents that Swiatek defeated during her triumphant run in Flushing Meadows last year.
Prediction: Iga Swiatek to win in straight sets.
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